Voters Resist Labels That Wrap Them Too Tightly

Judy Sanford, meanwhile, is right in Clinton's demographic wheelhouse: She's white, 64 and a retired hospital administrator in Austin, someone concerned about health care. She has volunteered, however, for Obama, despite the fact that she felt a little bit like she was betraying the sisterhood.

"I struggled and fought with things my daughter will never have to deal with. It's unnerving not to vote for Hillary," she said, but added: "I haven't felt this kind of hope since the '70s -- this kind of excitement."

Will Stevens, meanwhile, is all cowboy. A stocky man in jeans with the state's standard-issue oversize belt buckle, he lives in Crawford, Tex., home of President Bush, and has occasionally hauled hay off the president's ranch.

"Believe it or not, I'm probably going with Hillary," he said before she won a narrow victory in the state's primary. "I know a lot of people would think a cowboy ain't gonna vote for Hillary." He said his family has always been Democratic and he was looking for someone with experience.

Labels don't capture the complexity of voters.

Victor Sanchez, 75, a security worker for the Texas Senate in Austin, says his political views were shaped by the Great Depression. Born in the countryside near Austin, he shined shoes at age 6, washed dishes in a restaurant at 10. He worked for years in an Ohio steel mill. Now he listens to Rush Limbaugh -- but remains a solid Democrat. In the Texas primary, he said, "I'd rather go for the experienced lady."

Hispanics in Texas are more conservative generally than Hispanics in California, argued Rodolfo de la Garza, a professor of political science at Columbia University. "The California liberal Mexican would be alone in Texas," he said. "California Mexicans vote more like New York Puerto Ricans than Texas Mexicans."

De la Garza notes that most people have multiple dimensions to their identity.

"So you are a working-class person who's also a single mother. Now which one plays in? You're an African American who's upper-income. Where do you fit?" he asked.

Demographic analysis is useful when trying to make sense of voting patterns, but as Bruce Cain, a University of California professor of political science, puts it, "these aren't iron laws, these are statistical laws."

Some people do, in fact, cite demographics when explaining their votes.

"Honestly, I would like to see a woman" as president, said Mary Catherine De Los Santos, a San Antonio accountant. "I'm all about the women's empowerment."